


Mortem Domus (Cont.)~On Hiatus~

by RavenclawRiter



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/M, I don’t know where I’m going with this, I don’t know why I wrote this, Implied Romeo/Specs, M/M, Tears, This is rly depressing, but we’re all adults here, im sorry, letcrutchiesayfuck2k19, lol no, my tagging is shit, nonbinary smalls, read Mortem Domus by KayWritesFanfic first, theres some swearing, this is kinda edited?, this is my take on what could happen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2019-10-19 16:34:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17604950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenclawRiter/pseuds/RavenclawRiter
Summary: They had to play the game, they already knew what happened when they didn’t. Find the missing ‘pieces’, that was what they needed to do to escape.~~~~~Don’t read this as a stand-alone. It won’t make any sense whatsoever.This is based off of Mortem Domus by KayWritesFanfic





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Mortem Domus](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15942365) by [kaywritesfanfic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaywritesfanfic/pseuds/kaywritesfanfic). 



> Welcome to my new fanfic. I have no clue what I’m doing.  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> The first chapter is more of a set up and backstory(ish?), the second chapter will be where I actually start the main plot.  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> Enjoy?

Jack, Crutchie, Race, Mush, Buttons, Henry and Elmer had taken to pushing a bunch of mattresses together in Jack’s apartment, and all sleeping on them together after the events of three months ago. Almost every night, one of them would wake up yelling or screaming or sobbing about the friends, or in Race and Mushes case, lover that they had lost.

Tonight it was Race. He had woken up sobbing, and had curled into Elmer, who pulled Race into a tight hug as soon as he woke up. It seemed like Race was trying to stifle his sobs, but it wasn’t helpful, as everyone had already woken up, and joined the group hug.

“Hey, hey it’s ok Race, it’s all over, we’re not there anymore.” Jack whispered comfortingly.

They had learned not to call Race, ‘Racer’, because it had apparently been Spots favorite nickname for him, and whenever anyone called him it, he broke down.

As Race started to calm down, he started to talk. 

They each had different ways of coping with the pain, and Races, no surprise, was talking.

“I just miss them so much, and whenever I dream, the only thing I dream about is them, and then it turns into them dying all over again, and I wish that we could tell people what actually happened, and I know that eventually people are going to start telling me that I have to move on, but I can’t, and I really don’t want to...” He whispered in between sobs.

“Race, none of us are going to force you to move on. You know that.” Elmer told him, then added, “If you don’t want to go back to sleep, we could go binge Friends for a while.”

Race said nothing, but quickly disentangled himself from the group, and walked out of the room, which elmer took as a yes. 

So he also got up and began to walk towards the door, but when he reached it, he turned around and addressed the other five boys.

“You can join us if you want.” 

Then he turned and left the room.

Walking into the living room, Elmer saw exactly what he expected to see. Race, wrapped in a blanket cocoon on the couch, scrolling through episodes of Friends.

As Elmer walked over to join Race on the couch, he seemed to decided that ‘The One with Phoebe's Wedding’ would be a good one, and he clicked on it to start it.

The friends theme song started playing quietly from the TV as Elmer sat down. Race immediately curled up into him.

Now, there was nothing going on between Race and Elmer. Race just got really, really cuddly after the nightmares, and Elmer didn’t mind.

In the amount of time it had taken for the theme song to end, they were joined by Jack and Crutchie. Much, Buttons and Henry were clearly the only sane ones in the group, and had decided to go back to sleep.

Crutchie had somehow managed to make a blanket cocoon out of the few remaining blankets, with only his bad leg sticking out onto Jack’s lap.

Elmer was convinced that Jack unconsciously started to massage Crutches leg. He didn’t even look down.

 

As the episode started, Elmer, who honestly wasn’t the least bit interested in Friends, started to drift off into his own thoughts, and he accidentally started to think about when he and Jack had gone to explain what had really happened to Sarah and Les, which was not a memory that he enjoyed thinking about.

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

It had been a sunny day. Not a cloud in the sky, almost as though the world thought that everything was ok. 

Jack had asked Elmer to come with him earlier, and now they were at the door to the Jacobs house.

Hesitantly, jack knocked, and about thirty seconds later, the door was thrown open by none other than Les Jacobs.

“Jack!! Elmer!” He yelled excitedly, giving them each a hug.

“Hey Les, is Sarah here? And can we come in?” Jack asked, giving the smaller boy a pat on the head.

“Yes, and yes!” Les said happily, ushering them inside. Clearly not picking up on the sober note in Jacks voice, he called Sarah, using the traditional method.

“SARAHHH!! JACK AND ELMER ARE HERE!”  
Not thirty seconds later, Sarah came dashing down the stairs. She looked at Jack and Elmer expectantly.

“Did you two need something?” She asked politely.

“Um, yeah, can we talk with you and Les, in private?” Jack inquiered.

Sarah raised an eyebrow.

“It’s about David.” Jack added quietly.

That was all it took. Sarah’s eyes widened in surprise and concern, and she quickly ushered them upstairs and into her room. She closed the door, then turned around with her hands on her hips.

“Speak.” She commanded.

And Jack did. He told her everything. 

At some point Sarah sat down on her bed and covered her mouth with her hand. Elmer could see tears filling her eyes. 

When Jack got to the part where David died, Sarah let out a sob, and pulled Les, who was sitting on the bed with her, into a tight hug.

When Jack finished, they all just sat there in silence for a few minutes, then Sarah whispered,

“I could tell that you weren’t telling us everything, but you’ve been keeping all of that from us? For two months, I was left thinking that you had done something to him…” She was yelling by now, “But now you come over and tell us all of that.”

Jack tried to say something, but he was cut off.

“No. You don’t get to talk here anymore. You just don’t. You are no longer welcome in this house. Leave. And don’t come back.” She said, pointing to the door. “I trust that you can show yourselves out.”

And that’s where the memory ended. Elmer knew that they had somehow made her promise not to tell their parents, but then they had just left.

They had walked back to the apartment in silence, and then Jack had sat on the couch and cried for a very long time.

 

When Elmer snapped out of his own memories, he found that the episode of Friends that they had been watching was over, and that Race, Crutchie, and Jack were all asleep on the couch next to him.

Elmer sighed and struggled to grab the remote without waking Race, who was still curled up into him like a little baby.

He finally managed to snatch the remote off the table and shut the TV off.

He was pretty tired, so he decided to follow his friends leads, and go to sleep.

Elmer closed his eyes, and was asleep in a matter of minutes.

Elmer dreamed.

He dreamed of the funeral that they had for all of their fallen friends.

 

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

 

There hadn’t been that many people there, just parents and a few siblings, but the boys had been forced to tell them all that the twelve newsies had died from a strange virus, so all of the caskets had to be closed.

He remembered Race, quietly sobbing near Spots casket for a while, then walking over to Alberts and doing the same.

Mush had been doing the same thing at Blinks.

Jack had stood with the Jacobs family near Davids coffin. Pulling Les into a hug when the smaller boy started crying.

Buttons, Henry, Elmer, Crutchie, and Katherine, who had been invited by Jack, had walked around as a group, stopping at each of the caskets, and paying their respects.

After about two hours of this, everyone had left except for the newsies and Katherine.

Kath hadn’t been filled in on what really happened yet, so she sat down with Jack, who proceeded to tell her the entire story.

While Jack was talking with Kath, Elmer noticed Mush and Race slowly sneaking away from the group and toward the caskets. 

Both of their faces were still Red from the crying, but as they stood together, Elmer could see them talking quietly.

“I just miss his stupid face, and his-” Race was saying tearfully, but Elmers ability to hear his was impaired when he heard a loud sob coming from behind him.

He turned around and saw Katherine pulling Jack into a tight hug, a look of horror and sadness on her face.

Then Elmer turned back to Race and Mush, and saw them also hugging each other.

Elmer wasn’t surprised. The two really understood each other. They had each lost their boyfriends to this horrifying event, and through the pain, they each understood what the other was going through.

Dream Jack had just started to call them all over, when Elmer was jolted awake by the real life Jack throwing a pillow at his head.

“Hand me the remote, I wanna binge Stranger Things.” Jack whisper-shouted from the other side of the couch.

Neither Race, nor Crutchie had woken up yet, not surprisingly. Race could probably sleep through the apocalypse, and Crutchie could sleep through more.

Elmer tossed the remote to Jack, who quickly started up the first episode of Stranger Things, and settle into the couch further, if that was possible.

As the scientist was eaten by the monster thing, Elmer heard a groan from the door to the bedroom. 

He turned to see Mush and Henry, yawning and rubbing at their eyes.

“Again, Kelly? What is this? The third time this month?” Mush asked.

It was true, they had watched it a lot.

“A true classic never gets old. Ever.” Jack said, faking an offended look on his face.

Both boys at the door groaned, then they started to walk over to the couch, but were again, stopped by Jack.

“Since you’re up, will you make nachos?” He asked.

Henry rolled his eyes, turned on his heel, and headed toward the kitchen. 

“Anything else your highness?” He asked sarcastically.

“A water would be nice.” Jack said, smirking, as he ignored Henry flipping him off from the doorway.

Meanwhile, Mush had settled on the couch in between the blanket cocoons that were Race and Crutchie.

About five minutes later, Henry walked into the living room, balancing six plates of nachos.

“Dude, what the fuck? How are you carrying all that?” Mush asked him.

Buttons ignored him and flopped onto the couch.

As the smell of corn chips and cheese filled the room, Race and Crutchie started to stir.

Food was the only thing on the face of the earth that could wake the two of them up before they wanted to get up.

Crutchie was coherent first. He woke up, grabbed his nachos off the table, then leaned back into the couch.

For Race, it took a little bit longer. He groaned, then sat up and looked around for a minute before grabbing his nachos.

“Um, last time I checked, we were binging Friends.” He said, confused.

Elmer shrugged, “You fell asleep.”

Race gave him a death glare, then leaned back onto Elmer.

Eventually Buttons joined them, and they stayed like that until at least 11 o’clock in the morning.

When they finished season one, they sat there in silence for a few minutes, then Elmer broke said silence.

“Anybody wanna go to Jacobis for lunch?” He asked.

He was met with various, ‘sure’s and ‘I’m down’s

Mush got up and walked back to the bedroom, then a few seconds later, stuck his head out the door.

“Well… are we moving or not?” He asked.

Elmer groaned and got up, leaving Race to either get up, or fall off the couch.

He grabbed his clothes, then went into the bathroom to change. 

Not thirty seconds later, there was a loud banging on the door, and Races voice yelling at him.

“HURRY UP!! THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE IN THIS APARTMENT!”

“I HAVE BEEN IN HERE FOR THIRTY SECONDS SO SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Elmer yelled back.

Then came Crutchie, who was presumably still on the couch. 

 

“WATCH YOUR PROFANITIES ELMER!” 

“STOP FUCKING SHOUTING! THIS IS AN APARTMENT!” Jack interjected loudly.

“NO YOU!” Race, who was apparently still outside the bathroom, shouted.

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/

By some miracle, they all managed to get dressed and out of the apartment. As they walked the two short blocks to Jacobi’s, Race managed to get flipped off by not one, but two men who looked like they were on their way to a business meeting.

When they entered Jacobi’s, they sat down at a table, and each got a sandwich.

That was all Elmer could remember before everything went horribly wrong.

Again.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly have no clue what I’m doing.  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> This chapter is way shorter, but I swear the next one is longer(ish?)  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> Enjoy...

 

 

Race woke up.

 

He could tell that he wasn’t on a bed, or a couch. He groaned, thinking that he had rolled off the couch last night after he fell asleep binge watching friends.

 

He sat up and opened his eyes… and immediately realized that something was very wrong.

 

This room… it was familiar, as if he had been there recently, but he couldn’t remember why.

 

Then suddenly, he could.

 

All the memories came rushing back to him.

 

Specs, Mike and Ike, JoJo, Albert… and Spot…

 

He started to hyperventilate.  _ What was happening? This had to be a dream, there was no way this could be real. _

 

He whipped around when he heard a quiet, but familiar voice.

 

“Race?” Elmer looked like he was on the verge of tears, and it made Races heart drop. “What’s happening?”

 

“I don’t know…” Race answered, pulling the smaller boy into a hug. They stayed that way for a few minutes, then Race decided to make sure that they were all here.

 

1...2...3...4...5...6...7….8?

 

“Hey Elm…” He whispered into Elmer’s ear, “there were seven of us right?”

 

“Yeah, why?” Elmer responded, confused.

 

“Because there are eight of us in this room.” Race said, growing worried. “Go wake Jack up.”

 

Elmer quickly got up and walked over to Jack, as Race moved towards the eighth body. It was almost, set apart from the others, as though they had been meant to notice it, and it was laying face down, so they couldn’t see the face.

 

As Race got closer he noticed that the figure looked slightly familiar… and it had bright red hair.

 

“Wait Race, don’t touch it. It could be dangerous.” Jack said from across the room.

 

“No… Jack, I think it’s Albert.” Race said, confused, “look at the red hair…”

 

“Race I know that’s what you want to believe that, but Albert’s gone, and there are thousands of people with red hair.” Jack stated sadly.

 

Race looked back at Jack, who now had Elmer sitting next to him and Henry and Buttons were starting to wake up near him.

 

Jack sighed, “fine, you can look, but it’s not my fault when it kills every one of us.”

 

Race rolled his eyes, then turned and rolled the body over.

 

He gasped, then sat there for a minute. 

 

“Race…?” Jack said questioningly.

 

Race let out a sob. “It’s him… it’s Albert.”

 

He could hear the others scramble over to him, and then all collectively gasped.

 

Alberts eyes shot open, then he sat straight up and scrambled away from them until he was backed up against the wall, panting.

 

Then his brain seemed to register what he was seeing, and his eyes softened.

 

“Race?” He asked.

 

“Albie…” Race said, tears streaming down his face.

 

Suddenly Albert scrambled forward, and pulled Race into a hug. 

 

Race was tense for a second, but then quickly returned the hug. “We thought you were dead... we had a funeral for you.. for all of you. How are you alive?” He whispered, still tightly hugging Albert.

 

Albert shook his head against Races chest, “I don’t know… I just remember waking up in this room, then everything goes dark.”

 

Then the phone in the corner rang and ruined the moment.

 

Jack went over and answered it. He listened for a few seconds, then seemed to be cut off as he said, “wait wha-“, and then he hung up.

 

“Well…?”  Buttons said questioningly, looking at Jack.

 

Jack looked confused. “The person said that to escape, we need to find all the, ‘missing pieces’,” he used air quotes when he said ‘missing pieces’ , “and that we already knew what happened if we didn’t play the game. Oh, and we have twenty four hours or they’re gonna kill us all.”

 

“Did they say what the missing pieces are?” Elmer asked.

 

Henry snorted, “is that seriously what you’re worried about? They’re gonna kill us in 24 hours.” 

 

Everyone ignored him.

 

“No. He didn’t but none of this makes any sense.” Jack said, “Albert was definitely dead, right Race?” 

 

Race sniffled, “Right…”

 

“Hold up… how did I ‘die’” Albert asked.

 

Race looked uncomfortable, “um… you got stabbed in the stomach with a knife… I watched it happen..” he said, then started sobbing again.

 

“Hey, hey it’s not your fault, I’m here now.” Albert said, hugging Race tighter and running his fingers through Races blonde hair.

 

It was Jacks turn to look uncomfortable. 

 

“Uh, anyway, so Al was dead, but now he’s here… Alive. So what if the missing pieces, are all of the people that ‘died.” Jack said quickly, looking at Albert and putting finger quotes around the word ‘died’.

 

“I don’t know of anyone else, they literally kept me in a room and gave me food like twice a day.” Albert said, shrugging.

 

“So it possible that they did that to everyone else?” Jack asked.

 

“I guess…” Albert replied, shrugging.

 

“So that means that we need to look.” Race said quickly, looking almost hopeful, already starting to get up.

 

Jack looked at him, “Wait, we need to make a plan, we don’t know where they are in the house, or what kind of-“ 

 

“Dammit Jack, if there is ANY chance of Spot being alive, you can bet that I’m going to take it.” Race suddenly yelled, tears flowing down his face.

 

“RACE, calm down, I know that you want to get Spot back, we all do, but we can’t just go out there with absolutely no plan. You know what happened the last time we just went out with no plan… Romeo and Sniper both died, so we are NOT going out there with no plan. If you want to go out there with absolutely nothing, and die, fine, but it won’t do Spot any good. So either sit your ass down and listen or go die.” Jack yelled back.

 

Race grudgingly sat down. Jack glared at him for a second, then continued.

 

“Ok, as I was saying, we don’t know where they are or what kind of traps there are in here, so what do you remember?” Jack asked, suddenly calm.

 

“There are a lot of twists and turns everywhere and a bunch of dead ends.” Henry offered.

 

“Darts?” Race added tentatively, they had been a touchy subject with Jack for a while now. 

 

Jack just nodded.

 

“We don’t know this really, but there are probably a bunch of traps, because, I don’t know, look at the fucking house.” Elmer said quietly.

 

“Ok, anything else?” Jack asked.

 

There was silence, then Crutchie spoke, “If you get stuck in a room, they won’t always kill you…” he said quietly, looking at the floor.

 

“Whaddaya mean?” Albert asked, clearly confused.

 

“Um, well, I got stuck in a room and I’m not dead, clearly, but they came in, took my crutch, and beat JoJo with it…” Crutchie responded, sniffling and wiping at his eyes with his hand.

 

Jack walked over and pulled the smaller boy into a hug, “it’s ok… it’s not your fault.”

 

Then from his position on the floor, Jack spoke to the rest of the group. 

 

“Ok sos how’s about we only go in groups of two, and does anyone have like a string or something that we could use so we don’t get lost?” He asked.

 

They all shook their heads, except Race who for some reason had a ball of twine in his sweatpants pocket.

 

“Uh.. I have this…” he said, holding out the twine.

 

Albert started at him, and then at the twine, then back at Race. “Race, I have one question to ask you, and you need to answer honestly… what the actual fuck.”

 

Race shrugged, “I needed a figet.”

 

Albert gaped, “and you chose that?”

 

Race started to defend his figet choice, but was interrupted by Jack.

 

Jack shook his head in confusion, “ok yeah that’ll work.” He said, exasperated.

 

Race tossed him the twine. “Can I go with Albert?” He asked.

 

“Sure.” Jack said. “Mush, you go with Henry, Buttons with Elmer, and Crutchie with me. We’ll go out one at a time, and use Races… string?”

 

“Twine.” Race corrected matter of factly.

 

“Fine, we’ll use Races twine so we don’t get lost. If you find anyone, come straight back here. And be careful.” He said, looking Race pointedly in the eye.

 

Race flipped him off.

 

“We’ll go first.” Henry said, standing up with Mush by his side.

 

“Ok, here’s the twine,” Jack said, punctuating the word, ‘twine’, and looking at Race, who flipped him off... again. “Make sure you have it all the time, like tie it to your finger or something, and stick together.”

 

The two boys nodded and Mush took the twine.

 

The pair looked at each other, then turned, walked out of the room, and disappeared into the dark hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... that was... interesting...


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually pretty happy with this chapter!!  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> Part 4 is being a bitch and I can't seem to write right now so it might take me a while to finish that.  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> Enjoy!!

Mush and Henry walked down the hallway quietly. Jumping at any creak in the floorboards, and sometimes each others footsteps. 

 

Henry had tied Races twine around his wrist, loose enough that he could get it off, but tight enough that it wouldn’t fall off without him noticing.

 

They turned left, then right, then right again.

 

“Jesus, how long is this twine?” Henry suddenly asked. “How’s it going on forever?”

 

“Magic.” Mush said sarcastically, doing jazz hands in an arc around his head. 

 

“Very funny. But seriously, this thing can’t go on forever…” Henry said, yanking on the string. Then they fell silent again and continued walking.

 

Left… Right… Right… Left… until they came to a door.

 

“Should we open it?” Mush asked Henry after standing in front of the door for a few seconds. 

 

“I guess…” Henry replied, reaching for the handle.

 

“Wait. There could be a trap, remember?” Mush snapped, grabbing Henry’s hand, then backpedaled, “sorry, that was really, uh, snappy, I didn’t mean it that way.”

 

“It’s fine, and you’re right.” Henry said, putting his hand on Mushes shoulder.

 

“So… what do we do then?” Mush asked.

 

“I don’t really kno-“ Henry trailed off when he heard a faint voice coming from somewhere near them. 

 

_ “Hello? Is anyone there? Can you hear me?”  _

 

“What? You trailed off. You ok?” Mush asked, shaking him.

 

Henry shook his head, he must be hearing things. “Nothing… nothing, I’m fine, just thought I heard something.”

 

“Uh, that’s probably not good considering where we are…” Mush said, nervously letting out a little chuckle.

 

Henry nodded and also chuckled. Yup… just hearing things… 

 

He turned his attention back to the door.

 

They focused on trying to look for any sort of wire or latch.

 

Under the door, on the door handle, everywhere they could see or reach, and they didn’t find anything. Then suddenly, Mush froze.

 

“What? Did you find something?” Henry asked quickly.

 

Mush looked like he had seen a ghost. 

 

“When you said you heard something, it wasn’t by any chance a really quiet voice saying something like ‘ _ can you hear me? Is anyone there?’ _ ” He asked quietly, looking Henry in the eye.

 

“Oh my gosh, are you hearing it too?” Henry asked him quietly.

 

They looked into each other’s eyes, then Mush turned to the door, and spoke into it.

 

“Hello? Is someone in there?”

 

There was a long pause, and then a response.

 

“Hello?” Said a quiet voice from the other side of the door.

 

_ We’re not going insane,  _ Henry thought.

 

“Hey, uh, unidentified voice, do you know if we can open the door without dying?” Mush called through the door.

 

“I don’t know, I think so… it’s really dark in here, but I can’t see anything from here.” The voice called.

 

Henry turned to Mush, “Do you think we can trust them?” He whispered.

 

“Do we really have a choice? What it it’s one of the ‘missing pieces’, what it it’s one of our friends?” Mush whispered back.

 

“I’m going to ask who it is.” Henry muttered before turning to the door. “Hey, uh I keep referring to you as unidentified voice in my head, can you tell me your name?” 

 

“Uh, Yeah, I’m Ike. What about you?” The voice said.

 

Mush and Henry looked at each other. Was this their Ike?

 

“Ike? Uh, do you have a twin?” Mush called.

 

“Yeah? Wait, who are you?” Ike called.

 

“Ike, it’s me, Mush.” 

 

“And Henry.”

 

There was a gasp from inside the room, “Oh my god, you guys, is it really you?” 

 

“Yeah, uh Ike, can you tell us where you are in the room? Like across from the door, leaning on it?” Henry asked him.

 

“I’m pretty sure that I’m across from it, but it’s really dark in here.” Ike said.

 

“Ok, we’re gonna open the door. If something blows up and kills us all, I’m sorry.” Mush called through the door.

 

A dry laugh could be heard from the other side of the door.

 

Mush looked at Henry, “so… how we gonna do this?”

 

Henry shrugged, “just… open it I guess…”

 

Mush reached for the door handle, grabbed it, then opened the door with his eyes squeezed shut, waiting for something bad to happen, but nothing came. 

 

He swung the door open, and on the other side, sitting on the ground against the wall, was Ike.

 

Ike’s eyes widened, “I didn’t think it was real, oh my gosh, it’s actually you, oh my gosh…” he rambled as he scrambled to get up and pull Mush and Henry into a tight hug. 

 

They stayed that way for about thirty seconds before Mush remembered where they were.

 

“Ok, yes we’re very happy to see you, but we really need to get back before we all die.” He said quickly.

 

The group hug broke apart, and Henry nodded, “you’re right.” 

 

The walk back was mostly silent other than when Ike almost tripped over something in the hall.

 

Eventually they got back to the original hallway. There was no noise coming from the room, and Mush started to get worried. 

 

When they turned the corner into the room, everyone was staring at the doorway, when the group saw Ike, they froze.

 

They stayed like that for what seemed like a minute. Then Crutchie covered his mouth with his hand.

 

“Oh my god.” He whispered. 

 

Then everyone started to talk.

 

“Ike?” 

 

“Oh my gosh.” 

 

“Is this real?”

 

Ike had started sobbing as soon as Crutchie spoke, and soon was being enveloped in a gigantic group hug. The only people missing were Race and Albert, who were asleep on the couch.

 

Jack led Ike over to the couch, and Ike promptly flopped over onto Race, causing him to wake up.

 

Before Race opened his eyes, he started ranting about how he was finally actually getting some sleep and whoever woke him up was going to have hell to pay.

 

Then he opened his eyes, saw Ike staring at him with a grin on his face, then threw himself on top of Ike.

 

“Oh my god I thought you were dead… oh my gosh.” He mumbled into Ike’s shoulder. Then he looked up at the rest of them, “why the fuck did I have to get woken up by this idiot throwing himself on top of me.” 

 

They all looked at Jack, because he was Jack. Jack looked at them, then at Race, “well… you almost never get a full night of sleep… so we thought we would let you sleep..?” He lied.

 

Race rolled his eyes, “sure.”

 

Crutchie interrupted their bickering, “ok… shut up, both of you, Ike, we have questions.” 

 

“Ok?” 

 

“What’s the last thing you remember with all of us?” Jack asked.

 

“I just remember waking up in this room, then...nothing.” Ike answered.

 

“That’s exactly the same as me…” Albert said quietly. He had woken up when Race started ranting.

 

Ike’s head snapped over in Alberts direction, “Wait… whaddaya mean, ‘same as me’? How many of you got out? What about Mike?”

 

The room grew silent. Finally, Albert broke the silence.

 

“Ike… I didn’t make it out, nobody except these guys…” he gestured to the seven of them, “...made it.”

 

Ike looked like his heart had just been ripped in half, which, in a way, it had.

 

“No...no...no...not Mike…” he whispered in between sobs. He was shaking.

 

Albert put a hand on his shoulder, “I know it hurts… but I’m here, and I apparently got stabbed in the gut, so Mike could still be alive, we just need to find him.”

 

Ike turned towards Albert, “you… got stabbed?” He asked.

 

Albert nodded.

 

“So how did I die?” Ike asked quietly.

 

Jack looked at him uncomfortably, “well uh, you died after Mike stabbed himself because the person got in his head and told him to stab you be he wouldn’t and then you just kinda had a seizure or something and died…” 

 

“No, no, no, why wouldn’t he just kill me? He didn’t have to die, it shouldn’t have been him…” Ike cried.

 

Albert pulled Ike into a hug, “Hey, that’s exactly what you told him, ok, but he wasn’t willing to kill you, ok, that’s how much he loved you, but we might be able to get him back…”

 

Ike tried to calm his breathing, and partially succeeded, he was still breathing hard, but not hyperventilating as much anymore. “So how did you guys get here?” He asked, looking at Jack.

 

“We just woke up here… same as last time, none of us can remember how we got here, but I think that we’re somewhere near Jacobi’s, because that’s where we were both times before this.” He answered, then looked at Race, who he apparently expected to finish the story.

 

Race shrugged, “Uh, that phone over in the corner rang and when we answered it the guy said that we needed to find all the missing pieces, that’s what we suspect you and all the other people that supposedly died are, and we have to play the game… oh, and we have 24 hours to escape or he’ll kill us all.”

 

Ike nodded slowly, “Right…”

 

Elmer cleared his throat, which caused everyone to look at him. “Uh, so I don’t mean to break up this reunion, but we only have like 23 hours now and we have ten more people to find.”

 

Race started to get up, “we’ll go next.” He said, nodding at Albert.

 

Albert sighed, “nice of you to ask my opinion..” he muttered under his breath. No one heard him.

 

Race looked at Henry, “twine?” He asked, holding out his hand.

 

Henry produced the ball of twine that he had been re-rolling while they talked, and Race grabbed it.

 

“Ok… please be careful...” Jack told them, looking more at Race then he did at Albert.

 

Race dramatically rolled his eyes, then nodded, then he and Albert left the room, turning into the darkness of the hallway. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos fuel my writing!!


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited this... that's new.  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> This is a long one.  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> I'm sorry.

As Race and Albert walked down the hallway, Albert rambled on and on about his theory’s for the house while Race only half listened.

 

“Ok, so I was thinking that maybe since Mush and Henry didn’t say anything about traps or murder or anything, and there’s no way that there aren’t, maybe as we use up more time, there gets to be more traps and attempted murder.” 

 

“Mm hmm, yeah maybe.” Race muttered.

 

“And also, I think there’s some sort of magic involved in this an-“ Albert rambled, But He was cut off by Race snorting.

 

“Magic, seriously?” 

 

“Well yeah… He got into Mikes head, and Alberts alive when he should be dead, and Mike should be too, so I mean… what else could explain it? Some drug?” Albert asked him.

 

Race hadn’t thought of it that way before, “Well… I guess it’s possible, but seriously, it’s just weird.” 

 

Suddenly there was a loud creak from somewhere near them and Alberts heart almost stopped. They both frantically looked around, then Race started giggling.  _ Albert would swear that the was a 3 year old trapped in a 19 year olds body. _

 

_ “ _ Race what the fuck? This isn’t funny! And what was that?” Albert whisper-shouted at him.

 

Race continued to giggle.

 

“Race…” Albert said warningly.

 

“Fine. Look, it’s just a loose floorboard.” Race said, looking annoyed, then he burst out laughing again. “But you should have seen your face, you looked like you were gonna have a heart attack!”

 

“Race. Are you stupid or what? We’re literally in a house that could kill us all, and you’re laughing about a loose floorboard?” Albert groaned, face palming.

 

“Well fine mister party pooper.” Race said, pouting.

 

Albert decided he wanted to revise his earlier statement, Race was one, not three.

 

Albert walked on, with Race following about twenty feet behind him. He saw something about fifteen feet away from him on the left side of the hallway. It looked like a door, but there was a red dot painted on the door. Albert was just about to tell Race what he saw, when suddenly, Race let out a yell, and fell to the floor just as Albert whipped around to see why he was yelling.

 

“Race? Oh my god? Race?” Albert yelled as he ran back to where Race was.

 

As he got closer he noticed blood coming out of a huge gash on Races leg that definitely hadn’t been there before.

 

Race, who had never been one for pain or blood, had passed out when he hit the floor.

 

Albert did his best to put pressure on the gash, that was what you were supposed to do right?

 

He needed to get Race back to the rest of their friends. “Fuck, Race wake up, come on.” He said, shaking Race.

 

The boy only groaned and tried to turn away from Albert, but wasn’t very successful because of the fact that Albert was holding him down. 

 

It was Albert's turn to groan, Race definitely wasn’t going to wake up. So that meant that Albert had to carry Race for the ten minutes that it would take to get back.

 

Albert gathered the lanky boy in his arms. Race had always been pretty skinny and tall, which had been a stark contrast to Spot, who looked like a professional weightlifter.

 

Even though Race was relatively light, it was still a struggle to navigate through the twisting hallways in the house, even with the twine.

 

It seemed that Races wound had stopped bleeding a little bit and was now just slowly dripping onto the floor as Albert walked.

 

As Albert neared the room, Crutchie stuck his head out of the room, and when he saw Albert, he turned back into the room for a second. “Hey guys! They’re back!” But when he turned back out into the hallway and looked back at them, he noticed Race and his eyes widened in fear, he covered his mouth with his hand and gasped, “oh my god, is he…”

 

“He’s not dead, but he’s bleeding and we need to put pressure on it or something.” Albert called, starting to walk faster, Crutchie ducked back into the room.

 

When he turned into the room, Albert saw that Crutchie had shooed everyone off the couch, and Jack was standing by the door.

 

When Albert entered the room, Jack started walking  next to him.

 

“Ok, so just put him down on the couch, but what happened?” He asked.

 

“I don’t know, he was walking a little ways behind me and then he just fell.” Albert answered. “I tried to get him to wake up but I’m pretty sure he just passed out because of the blood, I mean, you know how he is with blood.”

 

Jack nodded as Albert set Race down on the couch. Jack took his sweatshirt off and tied it tightly around the gash. It wasn’t bleeding very badly but Race still hadn’t woken up.

 

“I’m not really very worried about the gash anymore, I’m more worried about how he hasn’t woken up yet. I think that he might have hit his head on the floor or something and given himself a concussion.” Albert said.

 

“That is a possibility, but I think he’ll be fine. What I really wanna know is if you found anything odd.”  Buttons asked. He was leaning on the arm of the couch looking at Albert.

 

“Not really… there was just a really squeaky floorboard in the middle of the hallway.” Albert said. Then he remembered something that had caught his eye right before Race had fallen. “Wait no, there was a door on the side of the room that had a red dot painted on it.” 

 

“You mean like a Spot?” Race asked, incoherently giggling in his sleep.

 

That was another one of Races quirks, he talked in his sleep. Sometimes Albert liked to record Race saying stuff because it was just so dumb.

 

Such as… “you’re no erster of mine with that clammy attitude.”

 

That one had made Albert sigh and shake his head.

 

This most recent one just made Albert face palm.

 

“Wait no, what if he’s onto something? What if that is Spot?” Henry asked from the other end of the couch where he had somehow maneuvered himself so that Races feet were on his lap, and he was still on the couch.

 

This time Jack face palmed. “I know that clearly anything is possible in here…” he made a wide, sweeping motion with his arms, “but honestly, I don’t think we should take advice from a unconscious person, let alone Race.”

 

That was true, Race wasn’t the most… reliable source for anything, unless it was poker. 

 

Elmer coughed, “um, I hate to be that person… again… but countdown? Ten more people to find… kinda important…”

 

Buttons looked over a Elmer, “we’ll go.” He said when Elmer nodded.

 

“Ok, take the twine.” Jack said.

 

“Wait!” Albert called to them just before they left the room, “I just remembered that when Race and I were walking I was talking about my theories for the house and Race wasn’t really listening, but anyway, I was thinking that since Mush and Henry got back just fine, and then Me and Race got attacked, but not like fatally or anything, maybe as we get closer to running out of time, the more dangerous it gets to be out there. So I don’t know, maybe try to be quick just in case I’m right?” While Albert had been talking, Elmer and Buttons had turned around.

 

“I mean… that is a possibility, and based on our experience so far, you’re probably right.” Jack said, nodding. “So yeah, try to be quick but don’t die?” He told Elmer and Buttons.

 

Elmer opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but right as he did, the phone rang. A loud, metallic bell sound, that filled the room. Race however, managed to sleep right through it, much like his alarms.

 

Jack, who was closest to the phone, answered it, but when he put the phone up to his ear, the voice started talking, and they all could hear it. It sounded like it was coming from speakers on the ceiling.

 

“Well, well, well, aren’t we just so clever. You all managed to figure it out much quicker that I thought. You would be correct… as my countdown clock gets closer to zero, it becomes more and more dangerous to be outside of this room. Better hurry though… the clock’s ticking.” The voice cackled, then hung up with a click.

 

They all sat there in silence for a minute, then Elmer spoke, “Well… that's fun, we’re gonna go now so we don’t all die though.” He said, grabbing Buttons wrist and starting to pull him out of the room. 

 

Before he could leave the room, Jack stopped him, “Wait… since that’s been confirmed, you guys need to be very careful.” He said, emphasizing the word ‘careful’, “And like I said earlier, you need to be quick. I want to get everyone.”

 

Suddenly, Crutchie called to Jack from the couch, where he seemed to be feeling Races forehead, “Jack. He’s burning up… come here, his head feels like an oven.”

 

Jack looked over to Race, his forehead creased with worry, then looked back at Elmer and Buttons. “Go.” He said, then quickly walked back over to Race as the two left the room. Albert quickly joined him at Races side.

 

Jack looked at him. “Is it possible that whatever he was cut with was poisoned?” He asked, then, before Albert could answer, the phone rang… again.

 

Mush was the closest person who happened to be standing, so he answered, and once again, the voice came through some sort of speaker system.

 

“Right again Mr.Sullivan… the blade was poisoned, but because its early, it’s a slowly acting poison, so it won’t kill him for a few hours at least. I’ve hidden the antidote with one of the missing pieces, so his fate is up to you. Have fun!” *Evil laugh again.

 

“Well fuck.” Mush said, hanging up the phone.

 

“Wait… so is this how it was the first time?” Ike suddenly asked.

 

“Well… the first time, we had no idea what we were doing, so we were all just running around trying to find a way out so half of us… uh… died?” Jack answered. “This time we’re being careful.”

 

“...Right.” Ike nodded slowly like he understood.

Jack turned back to Race, and Crutchie spoke, “Ok, feel his forehead, he’s burning up.”

 

Jack felt Races forehead, then pulled his hand away, “Oh jeez you’re right.”

 

“Ok so basically we have to wait for people to get back with the antidote and we can’t do anything at all to help him?” Albert asked.

 

Jack looked at him, “I think so…”

 

Albert huffed, “Fine… move.” He said, shooing Jack over and maneuvering himself so that Races head was on his lap, then he started to thread his fingers through Races hair.

 

In response to the looks he got from Jack and Henry, he shrugged, “We might as well keep ‘im comfortable…”

 

Jack shrugged then sat down next to Crutchie on the floor next to the couch.

 

The room fell into silence for a long time, probably at least fifteen minutes, but then the silence was broken when they heard something.

 

Footsteps coming from outside in the hallway.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me- Spot is dead, Race is sad, its already pretty bad for Race  
> Also me- PoISoN RaCE, gEt hIm STaBbeD, MaKE iT wORsE  
> *Cue evil laugh


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is really long! Have fun.  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> Things are happening! I'm not sure whats gonna happen next, but things are happening!!  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> Enjoy! :)

Elmer and Buttons had only been walking for about three minutes and Elmer was pretty sure they had already turned at least five times. 

 

“This place is excessively creepy… like look at those cobwebs.” Buttons whispered.

 

Elmer scoffed, “It’s almost like someone decorated for halloween then never took the decorations down. Not that I know anyone like that.” 

 

“Yeah… definitely!” Buttons responded sarcastically.

 

Jack had put up halloween decorations over two months before halloween, then never taken them down. It was six months later and they were still up.

 

“Honestly… how much longer do you think he’s going to keep them up? Another month?” Elmer asked. They were now just talking normally. Not even trying to be quiet.

 

This time Buttons scoffed. “Do you really believe that they’re gonna come down? I don’t think he’s ever gonna take them down.”

 

Elmer nodded, “True… Honestly I think that he might just be keeping them up because they keep scaring Henry.”

 

“Probably…” Buttons responded, then they fell silent again.

 

They had walked down maybe two or three more hallways when Elmer seemed to step right onto a creaky floorboard that was right in the middle of the hallway. They both stopped, almost like they expected something to happen. Elmer wasn’t even sure why, it was just a creaky floorboard, Jack had one in his apartment.

 

Then something dawned on him. He looked up into Buttons eyes. “Wait… didn’t Albert say something about a creaky floorboard?”

 

Buttons eyes widened, as though he had heard something, and honestly, he probably had. Buttons had always had really good hearing, way better than all of theirs. Then he reached out and pushed Elmer back against the wall as he stepped back himself...

 

Just as four arrows shot right down the middle of the hallway… right where Elmer and Buttons had been standing.

 

They stood there panting for a second. Then Buttons spoke. “So… getting more dangerous. Right.” He said in between gasps.

 

They stood there for a minute. Which probably wasn’t the best choice considering where they were.

 

“So Albert said that he saw that door… at some point in this hallway?” Elmer asked. Still thinking about what Albert had said.

 

Buttons nodded. “Right.”

 

They started to creep down the hallway, staying close to the walls, Elmer kept his back pressed against the wall, still spooked from their near death experience. It took them what felt like ten minutes to get fifteen feet.

 

Suddenly, Elmer saw something. He pointed to it, “Is that it?” 

 

The thing was probably ten feet away from them on the opposite side of the hallway from Elmer.

 

Buttons nodded hesitantly, “Probably… I mean… it's a door, with a spot on it…”

 

They continued their tiptoeing down the hall, and arrived at the door about three minutes later. The door struck Elmer as odd. Mostly because the door handle was on the opposite side of the door then it was usually on.

 

He wasn’t sure why that was what he noticed, but it was.

 

They each got on one side of the door and looked at each other for a second. “Should we just open it.” Buttons asked.

 

Elmer shrugged. “I mean… if opening it’s gonna kill us, there's nothing much that we can do… so… yeah?” 

 

Buttons nodded, “Ok. On three?” he asked.

 

Elmer nodded.

 

“One…”

 

“Two…”

 

“Three!” Buttons said. Then Elmer reached for the doorknob. Turned it, then threw the door open, causing it to slam into the wall on the inside of the room… which on second thought, probably wasn’t the best idea if one of your friends was on the inside of the room.

 

As he opened the door, Elmer had turned his head away, as though doing so would make him not die in the event of an explosion. Buttons had done the same.

 

Elmer kept his eyes squeezed shut for a second, almost waiting for an explosion. When none came he turned back towards the inside of the room, opening his eyes.

 

Inside the room he could see a small figure in the corner, with their knees pulled up to their chest and their face buried in their knees. 

 

Buttons walked over to the figure and crouched down next to it. He noticed that the person was shaking and seemed to be quietly wheezing.

 

Elmer walked up to Buttons and tapped him on the shoulder. Buttons stood up and looked at him.

 

“Does anyone we know have panic attacks or something, because I think they’re having a panic attack.” He whispered, gesturing to the person. 

 

They both looked down, and saw familiar black hair and tan skin looking up at them, still hyperventilating. His eyes were flickering all over the room in a panic.

 

Buttons dropped back down in front of him and reached his hand out to put it on their friends shoulder, but he flinched away from him and Buttons quickly retracted his hand, realizing that it had been a mistake. He had seen Specs comfort Romeo when he had panic attacks, and he knew that you should never try to touch him until he had calmed down a little bit, and asked him if you could.

 

“Hey, Romeo? Can you hear me?” Buttons whispered.

 

Just the sound of Buttons voice seemed to calm Romeo down a little bit and he nodded, his breathing slowing down a little bit. His eyes flicked from Buttons to Elmer, widening in recognition.

 

“Ok, great. Can I put my hand on your shoulder? I’m not going to hurt you.” Buttons asked him quietly.

 

Romeo shook his head quickly then after a second, seemed to change his mind and hesitantly nodded.

 

Buttons smiled at him and slowly reached out his hand to put it gently on Romeo’s shoulder. Romeo’s breathing slowed a little more, he seemed to be calming down.

 

“Romeo… can you talk?” Buttons asked. Hoping that he would be able to calm down soon so that they could get back to the room.

 

Romeo hesitantly nodded, his breathing almost back to normal.

 

“Ok… good. Can you tell me if you’re hurt anywhere? Can you walk?” Elmer asked his calmly. Dropping down to his level.

 

“I’m fine…” Romeo responded in a whisper that was almost inaudible.

 

Buttons nodded. “Ok. Good. Now I know you must have a lot of questi-” 

 

Romeo cut him off, closing his eyes, “Wait… wait is this real? Are you actually here?”

 

“Yeah we’re actually here… still working on if it’s real or not.” Elmer whispered.

 

Romeo seemed to accept that answer, and pulled them both into a hug. He was squeezing them so tight, that Buttons started to wheeze. Romeo quickly let them go, pulling back and looking at the floor.

 

“Ohmygod I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to. Are you ok?” He said quickly. 

Buttons looked at Elmer, confused. Romeo had always been pretty quiet and he was always kind, but that was weird.

 

“No! No its fine! It's not your fault, and also… its been three months, that's a completely understandable response.” Buttons said quickly. 

 

“Ok… uh, I know you have a lot of questio-”

 

“Hold up. It's been three months?” Romeo interrupted again.

 

“Yes. Three months. Now in the kindest possible way… Please be quiet. I swear we’ll answer all your questions, but we’re literally in a house called death house, so we need to get back.” Buttons responded, giving him a look that said, ‘I’m serious.’

 

Romeo seemed to deflate a little bit for a second, but just as quickly came back and nodded. 

 

“Ok, then we should go now.” Elmer said quietly. Buttons nodded and he lead the way out of the room, Elmer and Romeo following.

 

The walk back to the room was successful, in other words, they had no near death experiences or deaths. When they walked into the room, Buttons expected the reaction to be something like what had happened with Ike, but it was something exceedingly different. 

 

They walked in, and they were all focused on Race, who was still laying on the couch. Well… they were all focused on him except Albert, who was looking straight at Romeo, his eyes wide. 

 

Albert nudged Jack, which made Jack jump. He was focused on something else on the other side of the room, and didn’t seem to have noticed the three enter the room.

 

Albert muttered something to Jack that they couldn’t hear from their position. Jack scrambled to get up, then he quickly walked over. 

 

Elmer hadn’t noticed that when they walked into the room, Romeo had started hyperventilating, and as Jack waked over, Buttons, who had been whispering to Romeo to help him calm down, looked up at Jack. 

 

“He was having a panic attack when we found him, and now I think he’s just hyperventilating, but I’m not sure. This was more Specs thing.” Buttons said quietly when Jack was close enough to hear.

 

“No… nope… I’m not panicking. I’m fine.” Romeo muttered in between wheezes.

 

“Ok kid, you’re not fine. You’re literally wheezing. Come here.” Jack said to Romeo, looking him up and down, noticing that his legs were shaking a little bit. He led him over to the couch were he sat down in front of it and used the front of it as a backrest. Romeo followed reluctantly and sat down next to Jack.

 

Elmer started walking over to the couch, and as he did, he saw that Races forehead was glistening with sweat, and his eyes were still closed. “Hey, whats up with Race? Shouldn’t he have woken up by now?” 

 

Henry looked up at him sadly, “So you couldn’t hear the phone call right after you left?” he asked. 

 

Elmer shook his head.

 

“Oh… well… whatever Race got cut with had poison on it, and the voice said it wouldn’t kill him for another few hours, and that he had hidden the antidote with one of the ‘missing pieces.’”

 

Elmer nodded, “Then someone should go out and look for everyone. We could ask Romeo if he had heard or seen anything that could be helpful.”

 

Romeo, upon hearing his name, looked up at Elmer, confused. “Huh?” 

 

Jack looked up at Elmer and explained, “I was just asking him about that. He said that he remembers hearing some yelling, but he was too far away to recognize it, and then the room was completely dark so he couldn’t see anything.” 

 

Romeo nodded, but then he got a confused look on his face and held up his hand, “Wait… I’m still confused though. Is this everyone? I mean… where’s Spot? And Mike? ...And Specs?” 

 

Jack seemed like he got uncomfortable every time he got asked about their… missing friends. “Well, uh… so you remember waking up in here and then everything just goes dark?”

 

Romeo nodded again, “but how did you know that?” 

 

Ike coughed, “Uh, well, everyone in this room except for me, you and Albert made it out. The rest of us ‘died’” he said, putting finger quotes around the word ‘dead’.

 

Romeo started to hyperventilate again, but Jack put his hand on Romeos shoulder and whispered something to him that made his breathing slow down a little bit and he asked quietly, “whaddaya mean ‘dead’?” 

 

This time Buttons answered, “Well, you, Ike and Albert all died in some way, Ike had a seizure, Albert got stabbed in the stomach, and you uh… you got shot, but you’re alive.” he said, uncomfortable looking at Henry.

 

Henry sniffed, then started rambling “and I watched it happen, I was in the room with you, I could have helped you more… The last thing I said to you was a lie, I told you you were gonna be fine, I didn’t wanna-” he was cut off by Romeo pulling him into a hug.

 

“It’s not your fault, there was nothing you could do.” He whispered into Henry’s ear. 

 

Then, Romeo looked back up at them confused... again, “So how are we alive?” He asked, still hugging Henry.

 

Jack sighed, “we’re not sure…” 

 

It was silent for a minute, then Elmer remembered the timer. “Ok, seriously, if I wasn’t here, y'all would be dead. Countdown. Nine more people. Go.”

 

Jack nodded, “yeah, this time Crutchie ‘an I’ll go.” He said as he got up and walked over to the door with Crutchie following close behind.

 

Crutchie turned around before they left the room like he had forgotten something. “Twine. Now.” He said, holding his hand out for the twine, which he promptly received from Buttons. 

 

Crutchie tied the twine to his crutch, then nodded to Jack, and the two of them stepped out into the hallway.

 

When they had left, Romeo turned to Henry. “Whaddaya mean by countdown?”

 

“Well there’s a countdown that probably is at like twenty hours right now, and we have to find all the ‘missing pieces’, which we think is you guys, to escape, and he said that it was gonna get more dangerous to be outside of this room as the countdown counts down, thats what happened to Race. Oh, and you don’t have that antidote by any chance, do you?” Henry responded.

 

Romeo cocked his head. “You don’t think I’d have mentioned that by now if I did? With our friend dying on the couch?” He responded sarcastically.

 

Suddenly Race coughed and tried to lift his head up. Albert pushed him back down gently, not needing, or wanting to use much force.

 

Race whispered something to Albert, and Albert whispered something back. Still running his fingers through Races hair. Then after about twenty seconds, Albert groaned.

“He’s out again.” He said.

 

Over the next twenty minutes, before Crutchie got back, Race drifted in and out of consciousness. Sometimes his eyes would just flicker open then close again, and other times he seemed to almost have quiet conversations with Albert.

 

When he had the small conversations, after he had passed out again, Albert would tell them what he said.

 

The first time Race had said something about not feeling well.

 

The second and third, his eyes had just flickered.

 

The fourth, he had talked about how his leg hurt and he felt like he was gonna be sick.

 

About five minutes after the fourth time Race woke up, Albert felt his forehead and said something about how Races forehead was getting really warm, but Elmer wasn’t really paying attention.

 

He didn’t regain consciousness until after Crutchie came back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry. For everything I'm doing to everyone.


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me a really long time to finish.  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> Not really sure how I feel about this chapter, but idk 😐   
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> Enjoy?

Crutchie returned first with Smalls. Him bringing someone back didn’t really surprise anyone, it was the fact that Jack wasn’t with them that scared them.

 

Smalls must have been really confused, because for the first minute, nobody really payed attention to them. Everyone swarmed Crutchie, asking a multitude of questions, but not giving him enough time in between them to give any answers.

 

“What happened?”

 

“Where’s Jack?”

 

“Is Jack dead?”

 

The questions were focused on Jack, no one even noticed when Smalls walked over to the couch and sat down at Races feet, where there was a small enough amount of room for them, but no one else.

 

Eventually Crutchie must have gotten annoyed with all the questions, because after about forty-five seconds of questions, he shut them all up in a way that only him or Jack could.

 

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

 

The room went silent.

 

“Ok good. First of all, where’d Smalls go?” Crutchie asked, going back to his usual quiet voice.

 

They all looked around, then Elmer noticed them on the couch and pointed. The rest of the group turned towards them and Smalls did some sarcastic Jazz Hands.

 

“Hey. I feel ignored and unappreciated.” 

 

“Sorry, but I told you when I didn’t come back with Jack there would be questions… soooo… these are the questions.” Crutchie said from behind everyone, then he started to move over to the couch. “How’s Race?” 

 

Everyone followed Crutchie over to the couch, and Albert answered his question. “His foreheads super hot, and he woke up a few times and said that his leg hurt and that he was gonna be sick.”

 

“Well… that’s fun. How much time does he have left do you think?” Crutchie asked.

 

“If he started with four then he probably has about one left. Now answer our question. Where’s Jack?” Henry stated.

 

Crutchie sighed, “He’s fine, not dead, there was another door and he wanted to try to get it open, so he told me and Smalls to go back while he did that.” 

 

“That wasn’t so hard was it?” Elmer asked sarcastically. 

 

Crutchie rolled his eyes.

 

It was silent for a second.

 

“Ok so Crutch explained the whole dead and not dead thing to me, but what’s up with Race?” Smalls asked.

 

“Well Race is an idiot and got himself cut with a knife that had poison on it, and one of you guys has an antidote for it.” Henry answered.

 

“You don’t have that do you?” Ike asked hopefully.

 

Smalls shook their head. “Nope, sorry.”

 

“So… now what?” Buttons asked.

 

“Well, I guess we could have a group follow the twine to wherever Jack is and get it then Jack can just follow it while it’s on the ground to get back… because… ya know… we have a time constraint.”  Mush commented.

 

“Well… we haven't gone out in a while…” Henry said, looking at Mush.

 

“Ok... so we’re gonna… just follow the twine to wherever Jack is?” Mush said questioningly.

 

“Sure.” Henry said, then started walking over to the door with Mush.

 

“Please don’t die…” Crutchie called just before they walked out of the room.

 

“Yup.” Mush called back, not turning around. Then the two turned the corner into the dark hallway.

 

/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

 

Mush and Henry turned into the hallway and Mush immediately noticed that the hallway seemed darker than it had been the last time they were there.

 

“Does it seem darker in here to you?” Henry asked Mush after a second.

 

“Yup.” Mush said, nodding.

 

“Does that seem weird to you at all?” Henry asked again.

 

“Yup.” Mush responded, continuing to nod.

 

It went silent in the hallway except for their footsteps and breathing.

 

They walked down the hallway, following the twine on the floor, and hoping that they wouldn’t find anything except for Jack and maybe one of their friends if they were lucky.

 

They walked for ten minutes, then both stopped as they heard voices coming from around the corner. Mush looked at Henry.

 

“Does that sound like Jack?” He whispered.

 

“Not really…” Henry whispered back.

 

“Should we go look?” Mush asked.

 

Henry shrugged, “there’s really no avoiding it…” and with that, they walked around the corner…

 

...right into Jack and Spot.

 

“hoLY SHIT!” Spot squealed, then cleared his throat, “Where did you come from?” He asked, his voice back to normal.

 

Henry snickered at Spots voice crack.

 

“What do you think you’re laughing at.” Spot said menacingly.

 

Henry quickly turned the laugh into a cough. “Oh, what? Nothing.”

 

Spot nodded, “That’s what I thought.” Not noticing Jack stifling a giggle behind him.

 

“Well… nice to see ya?” Mush offered.

 

“Hi.” Spot said quietly.

 

Silence.

 

“Ok so… we should be getting back, do you guys wanna come back with us or look for some more people?” Jack asked. Mercifully breaking the awkward silence.

 

“We’ll just take the twine and keep looking.” Henry told him. Jack nodded and gave him the twine.

 

“Hold up… more people?” Spot asked.

 

“I’ll explain on the way back.” Jack said turning to get by Mush and Henry in the crowded hallway.

 

“Ok fine, but you have to answer one question before.” Spot said before he could get too far away.

 

“Fineeee. Whattt?” Jack whined. Clearly annoyed at having to wait.

 

“Hows Race? Did he make it out?” Spot asked.

 

Mush looked at Jack. “You didn’t tell him?”

 

Jacks eyes widened and he shook his head at Mush as Spot started to advance on him, “Tell me what Jack?” He asked menacingly.

 

“Ok, ok… yes Race got out, and he’s probably fine, honestly.” Jack said.

 

“Probably?” Spot prompted, getting more and more annoyed by the second.

 

“Fine. Race got cut on the leg with this blade, and we later found out that it was poisoned, and the antidote is with one of you… but when I left he was just passed out.” Jack said quickly, clearly trying to get this over quickly.

 

“Actually…” Henry cut in, “He’s running a fever and he woke up a few times moaning about how his leg hurts and how he felt sick.” 

 

Jack shot him a look. “Not. Helping.” He said through clenched teeth.

 

Silence.

 

“Ok that's it I’m leaving without you because my fucking boyfriend is dying and I’m here listening to you two argue.” Spot yelled as he shouldered past Jack and walked off down the hall at a pace that didn’t seem possible for his height.

 

Jack looked at Henry, “This is your fault.” He said before turning on his heel and jogging off after Spot, who was a good twenty feet away already.

 

“Yeah, fuck you too.” Henry muttered. Mush elbowed him in the ribs.

 

“Ow! What? He would have found out at some point.” Henry groaned.

 

“Even though that's true… you didn’t need to tell him that way. That was completely insensitive.” Mush said, giving him the same look that Jack had given him thirty seconds ago.

 

Henry sighed, “Can we argue about this later and just go look for people now?”

 

“Yeah… you’re right.” Mush said, nodding, and starting to walk away, but then he spun around and pointed at Henry, “This isn’t over.”

 

Henry nodded, confused. Then quickly followed Mush, who had turned back around and started walking again. 

 

They walked down the halls, watching for any movement, or doors, or anything that could kill them.  At one point Mush was sure he had seen someone move at the end of the hall, but when they looked, there was no one there, so they were pretty sure he had just imagined it.

 

After what was probably ten minutes of walking, they came to a door that was just at the end of the hallway. 

 

Mush looked over at Henry, who seemed to be inspecting the door. “You don’t think this is weird at all? It’s just out in the open, and it feels too obvious.”

 

“Well, I mean all the other doors only felt hidden because they were in the middle of a dark hallway, this one just seems out in the open because it’s not hidden away one of the hallways.” Henry said, shrugging.

 

“I guess you’re right…” Mush nodded, but he still felt like something was wrong.

 

Henry sighed, “I almost feel like we shouldn’t open it…. but we don’t really have a choice do we?”

 

It was Mush’s turn to shrug, “Not really…”

 

Henry grabbed the doorknob, then paused, “Wait… that last time we were out here, the door had a handle, right?”

 

Mush nodded, clearly confused at where Henry was taking this.

 

“Well this has a doorknob, not a handle.” 

 

“Wow. Thank you sooo much, for that astute observation.” Mush said sarcastically.

 

“Well no need to get sarcastic with me mister.” Henry said, with even more sarcasm.

 

“Ok, seriously just open the door.” Mush muttered, now annoyed.

 

“Ok, seriously just open the door.” Henry imitated.

 

“Stop.” 

 

“Stop.”

 

“Oh my god.”

 

“Oh my go-“ 

 

Henry was interrupted by a sudden loud bang coming from the other side of the door. Also by Mush screeching in surprise and falling backwards into the wall.

 

“You two sound like fucking toddlers, can you just let me out of here?” A voice yelled.

 

“Is it gonna kill us? Or blow up in our faces or something?” Henry called through the door.

 

“It’s pitch black in here, do you really think I know that?” The voice yelled again, sounding very annoyed.

 

Mush scrambled to his feet, grabbed the doorknob, and had started to twist it open when he was stopped by Henry grabbing his hand.

 

“Wait! It could be a trap!” 

 

Mush slapped Henry’s hand away, “I know that voice.” He growled, causing Henry to back away slowly.

 

Mush threw open the door, and there, standing on the other side, was Blink.

 

Time stood still for a while, as Mush and Blink locked eyes for an intense five seconds. Then Mush took a stop forward and pulled Blink into a tight hug. 

 

Henry, who was still standing outside in the hallway, with the hand that Mush had slapped away still above his head like he was being held at gunpoint, noticed that Blink had tears running down his face, and it was safe to assume that Mush was also crying.

 

After about ten seconds of them hugging, Mush took a step back and held Blink at arms length. 

 

“I missed you so much…” Blink said tearfully, “I thought of you every day.”

 

Mush shook his head as though he was trying to clear it, “I thought I’d lost you.” He whispered, quietly enough that Henry had to strain his ears to hear him.

 

Blink snorted, “Can’t get rid of me that easily.” He said, grinning, then he noticed Henry outside the door, “Oh, hey Henry.”

 

Henry waved.

 

Suddenly there was a loud yell from somewhere on the right of Henry. Mush screeched, and Henry spun around just soon enough to narrowly miss getting hit in the face with a shovel, instead, he was hit on the shoulder.

 

Henry yelled in pain and fell to the ground. His attacker stood over him, their face mostly obscured, except for the eyes… those eyes… Henry knew those eyes… but from where?

He didn’t have enough time to think of where he knew them from, because they smashed the shovel right into his ankle. 

 

There was a sickening crunch of what Henry assumed was bone, and then there was pain. It was unlike anything he had ever felt. It was even worse than when he had smashed his pinkie in a door in fourth grade. 

 

Henry’s vision spun, and he blacked out for a few seconds. In those few seconds, the attack was over, and the person was gone. Mush and Blink rushed to Henry’s side.

 

“Oh my god, are you ok?” Mush asked, helping him sit up.

 

Henry blinked, “are you seriously asking me if I’m ok? I heard the bone break, I’m pretty sure my ankles broken.”

 

Mush rolled his eyes, “Well sorry.” He muttered sarcastically.

 

Blink coughed, “Uh, I know now probably isn’t the best time, but um.. where are we? And why are we getting attacked by people with shovels?” He asked, confused.

 

Mush sighed,  “What’s the last thing you remember?”

 

“Waking up in some weird room… why?” Blink responded.

 

“Because whatever was outside that room killed pretty much everyone, but the people that were, ‘killed’, like you, aren’t dead, and we have to find all of you before the timer runs out or they’ll kill us all for real this time.” Henry said matter-of-factly, still gritting his teeth and trying not to scream from the pain.

 

Blinks eyes went wide, “oh…”. He paused for a second, then held up a small vile of a clear liquid that looked like water. “So, uh… this showed up in there,” he gestured to the room, “like an hour ago, and I was wondering if you guys know what it is.”

 

Henry and Mush looked at each other. “Is that it…?” Henry asked quietly.

 

Mush nodded, “I think so…”

 

Blink looked between them, confused, “What?”

 

“We’ll explain on the way, but we need to get back.” Mush said, starting to stand up.

 

Henry coughed, “Hi, I have a probably broken ankle and I can definitely walk.” 

 

“Sorry.”

 

Blink and Mush helped Henry stand, and he used them as crutches. 

 

They made slow progress, having to stop a few times because Henry had lost his balance or they all just needed a break. As they walked Henry and Mush explained what had been happening to Blink, who just nodded along.

 

Eventually, they made it back to the hallway that they had started in, all of them gasping for breath. 

 

They started down the hallway, relieved that they had almost made it back, but suddenly, there was yelling coming from inside the room. It sounded panicked. The three stopped walking, and Henry almost tripped when he heard what was being yelled.

 

“Oh my god! Race!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry. I need constructive criticism maybe? 
> 
> I have no clue what I’m doing.


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... this chapter is a wild ride... buckle your seatbelts.  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> I don't know... I think this ones pretty good.  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> Enjoy...

Henry, Blink, and Mush ran to the room, or, ran as fast as they could while still holding up Henry, and a few seconds later entered the room.

They were met by complete chaos. 

Jack ran up to them, eyes wide and he was clearly panicking, “DO YOU HAVE IT?”

Blink held up the small vile and Jack snatched it out of his hand, then ran over to the couch where Race looked like he was having a seizure. 

Albert and Spot were pacing back and forth around the room, clearly not knowing what to do.

Since Romeo was dating Specs, who was the resident first-aid person in their group, he had picked up a few things. He had rolled Race onto his side, which was apparently supposed to help stop Race from choking. 

Buttons was sitting on the floor with Crutchie, Elmer and Smalls. They seemed to be praying, which was odd, because none of them were very religious. Apparently, in this situation, praying seemed like a good last ditch attempt to not die. 

As Jack had ran over to the couch, Spot and Albert must have noticed that Jack had something, and were both at Races side in seconds, hoping that they could help.

“Does he need to drink it?” Albert asked urgently, looking at the vile.  
“I think so…” Jack responded as he uncorked what they hoped was the antidote. “Spot can you hold him still? I don’t wanna spill it.”

Spot sniffed, and for the first time, Henry noticed that Spot had been crying. 

“Yeah…” Spot said quietly, clearly reluctant to use any force.

Spot pushed down on Racs shoulders, and Albert helped open Races mouth while Jack poured the liquid into his mouth.

Almost immediately, Race stopped shaking and went limp.

Spot let out a sob and covered his mouth with his hand, standing up and backing away from the couch. “Is he… dead? Oh my god, he’s dead… I never got to ask him…” He muttered in between sobs.

For the first time, Henry noticed that the room had gone silent except for Spots stifled sobs. 

Jack felt on Races neck for a pulse, and he found one, it was faint, but it was there.

“He’s not dead.” Jack said, and everyone let out a relieved sigh, Spot especially, who ran back to the couch and frantically felt for Races pulse, needing to feel it for himself.

After a second, Mush coughed. “So… now that that's over… Hi, we’re back and Henry’s ankle is broken.” He said, gesturing to Henry balancing in between him and Blink.

Jack jumped up, leaving Spot with Race. “Right, hi, how did Henry break his ankle?” He asked.

“We got jumped by someone with a shovel. Henry almost got hit in the face.” Mush answered.

“Hi, I’m here too.” Blink said, waving.

“Geez, is it a tradition or something for you to ignore the people that have been dead for three months?” Smalls called from the floor. 

“Shut upppp” Albert called from near the couch, where Race was still passed out. Spot had maneuvered himself so that Races head was on his lap, and was now running his fingers through Races hair.

Smalls turned around a flipped him off. 

Jack sighed, “Sorry Blink, I uh… didn’t mean to ignore you, but I just have a lot on my mind right now…” he said, gesturing to Race.

Blink shrugged, “It’s fine… I get it.”

“No… seriously, we need to stop ignori-” Jack started.

“No, Jack seriously, its fine, Henry needs more attention than I do right now.” Blink interrupted, gesturing to Henrys ankle.

Jack sighed again, realizing that he wasn’t going to get anywhere arguing, then started walking over to the couch, “Fine. Bring ‘im over here.”

Blink and Mush helped Henry over to the couch, then Henry squeezed himself into the spot where Smalls had been sitting when they left. Except he didn’t fit easily, and Race’s legs ended up getting scrunched up.

“So… you wanna explain why you’ve been being a complete asshole for the last two hours?” Jack asked him, sitting down on the ground in front of Henry's feet.

This time, it was Henry’s turn to sigh, “I know, I’m sorry, it’s just that we’re in the same house that fake-killed over half of us again, and that's really stressing me out, and I was worried about Race and everything and… I don’t know… I know that's not an excuse, but… I don’t know… just… I’m sorry, I mean I know I made it worse with Spot and everything an-”

“Henry… Stop, honestly, its ok, I get it, seriously, It would have been nice if you hadn’t done that with Spot, but its ok…” He trailed off.

Henry nodded slowly, confused, “So… you’re not mad at me?”

Jack barked out a laugh, “Oh… oh I’m mad, but now isn’t really the best time to be arguing about stuff, so we can talk about this later, providing there is a later…”

Henry cringed, “You could have done without the ‘if there is a later’ part.”

Jack nodded, “Yeah… probably.”

The room went silent for a few minutes, in those few minutes, as Henry surveyed the room, he noticed that Smalls had flopped down on the ground, and Mush and Blink had sat down against the wall on the opposite side of the room, Mush practically on top of Blink, just talking quietly, inaudible from Henry’s position.

For a few more minutes, the room was pretty much silent with the exception of the occasional groan from Race.

Suddenly, Elmer broke the silence, “Someone should probably go out…” 

Buttons groaned from the floor, where he was also sprawled out like Smalls. “I guess we could go…”

Elmer sighed, “Yup, we’re going. Get up.”

Buttons whined, sitting up.

Eventually, Buttons was standing, and Elmer retrieved the twine.

They got the ‘please don’t die’ and ‘be careful’ from Crutchie, then they started to make their way out of the room. 

Before they could, Race returned from the dead in the most Race way possible. Everybody froze. Shooting upright and off the couch before anyone could react, then just standing in the middle of the room, completely focused on Spot.

“Spottie?” He whispered, eyes getting wider and wider by the second. 

Spot didn’t answer, instead, he got up from the couch, walked over, and pulled Race into a tight hug. 

Race started sobbing, and Spot had tears running down his cheeks.

“I thought I lost you…” Race whispered.

“I’m never gonna leave you, not until I’m dead.” Spot whispered back, rubbing the back of Races head, trying to pull him closer.

Race pulled away, looking Spot in the eye. Suddenly it seemed that Race noticed that something on his leg was wrong. He looked down, saw the blood all over his leg, then tried to walk over to the couch, but he got about two steps then fell into Spots arms.

Spot walked, or rather, carried Race over to the couch and sat him down, Race groaned, but didn’t pass out.

Jack walked over and sat in between Race and Mush. 

“So… how ya feelin?” He asked, not really directing the question at either of them.

Race scoffed, “Like I almost died.”

Crutchie snorted, “Oh, ya don’t say.” and the rest of the room erupted into laughter. 

“Uh… well Race... as glad as we are to see that you’re not dead, we should really be going, so…” Elmer trailed off as Race seemed to notice him and Buttons standing near the door.

“Oh, yeah it’s fine, go ahead.” Race said, smiling at them and waving them out of the room.

Buttons and Elmer nodded gratefully, then turned and left the room.

Albert walked over to the couch and sat down in front of Race, because all the room on the couch was already taken by Spot, Jack, Race, and Mush.

Race promptly kicked Albert in the head.

Albert turned around rubbing his head, “Seriously? That's the first thing you do to me?”

Race shrugged, “Why not?” he said as Spot draped his arm over Races shoulders. Then Race made a confused face, which really didn’t look any different that his regular face, “What happened?” he asked, looking at Spot.

Spot shrugged, “Don’t look at me, I only got here like a half hour ago.”

Race looked at Albert, who sighed, “Well… we were out in the hallway, and you were being dumb about that creaky floorboard in the hallway, and I was like twenty feet ahead of you, then you got stabbed or whatever and fell over and I carried you back here then we found out that the knife had poison on-”

“Wait wait wait wait wait… I GOT POISONED?” Race interrupted.

Mush looked over at him, “Well why do you think we’ve all been like, ‘hey Race we’re glad you aren’t dead’ and stuff?”

Race shrugged, “I don’t know, I thought you were exaggerating or something.”

Spot facepalmed, “You idiot.”

Race slapped him on the arm, then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek,“You’ve been dead for three months, shut up.”

“Do you wanna know what happened or not?” Albert asked.

Race rolled his eyes, “Fineeee, continue.”

“Ok, so we found out the knife had poison on it and that one of the missing people had the antidote so people were going out and looking for people and blah blah blah, then Spot came back like a half hour ago and he was really stressed and whatever, then like twenty minutes ago you started to have a seizure or somethin-“

“You say that like it’s not dangerous to have a seizure.” Race interrupted again, sarcastically.

“Shut up.” Albert responded, then continued his story, “ok, so then Henry, Mush and   
Blink came back and Blink had the antidote, so we gave that to you and it looked like you had died but then like five minutes later you just woke up and, uh, well… here we are.”

Race nodded, “I feel so honored to know that you carried me all the way back here my prince.” He said with a smirk.

Spot gasped, pretending to be offended, “Hey, who are you dating here?”

Race was about to reply, but then Spot gasped again, this time it seemed that he was serious, and he started to check in all his pockets like he was looking for something.

Race grabbed his hands, “Hey, stop, what’re you doing?”

Spot started hyperventilating, “No, no, no, no, I had something really important… and uh… it’s not here, oh my god, oh my g-“ 

Race cut him off, “Spotty, stop. Are you talking about the ring?”

Spot’s head snapped up, “How’d you know about that?”

Race smiled sadly, “You proposed… here… right before you died…” he said quietly, holding up his hand.

Spot snatched Races hand out of the air and seemed to inspect the ring, then looked up at Race with wide eyes that were filling with tears, “And… you said yes?”

Race let out a small laugh, “Of course I did you moron, I love you.” He whispered, pulling Spot, who now had tears running down his face, into a kiss.

“Get a room you idiots in love.” Smalls called, they were still on the floor, but they were now sitting up along with Crutchie.

“Shut up and let them be engaged for a second.” Blink called from the other side of the room, where Mush was still sitting on top of him. 

Spot and Race broke apart and just looked into each other’s eyes for a second, then Spot slid off the couch and onto one knee. Race just looked at him in confusion.

“Wha-... what are you doing?” Race asked.

“Well, I think it’s safe to assume that I didn’t actually propose when I was about to die… so I was gonna do it now…” Spot answered, almost looking embarrassed.

Race opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again and started to say something but Spot cut him off. 

“So I was going to propose to you that day in Jacobi’s, and I guess I kinda did, and I had this big speech planned out… but… I mean, it’s been three months and I forgot most of it but anyway… Anthony Higgins, we’ve been dating for almost four years, and honestly my life has been so much better with you in it, and… oh geez this is terrible, but will you marry me?”

Race covered his mouth with his hand, and now he was also crying. “Yes… I’m never gonna not say yes.”

The room erupted into applause and a few cheers, Race and Spot kissed.

“Get a hotel!” Smalls yelled above the applause, everyone looked at them. They shrugged, “That made way more sense in my head… sorry…”

The room fell into a comfortable silence except for Spot and Race quietly conversing on the couch, and Henry telling Jack what happened.

Suddenly, there were multiple sets of loud, running footsteps getting closer and closer to the room.

Elmer, Buttons, JoJo and Specs came sprinting in.

JoJo collapsed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AhHHHHHHH THE FLUFFYNESS OF WHAT I JUST WROTE IS KILLING ME RIGHT NOW.
> 
> also when Spot's like, 'oh geez this is terrible' it both referring to how Spot thinks his proposal is bad and how my writing is trash. sooo WootWoot double meanings.


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was some good fluff in that last chapter... and this chapter is also pretty chill, like no one dies or anything and there's maybe-possibly a vine reference or two...¯\\_(ツ)_/  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> Not gonna lie, I wrote most of this is American Studies.  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> Enjoyy!

Elmer, Buttons, JoJo and Specs ran into the room. JoJo fell to the floor as soon as he ran in.

 

Almost everyone who could walk started crowding around JoJo.

 

“Oh shit, not again.” Specs muttered as he dropped to his knees next to JoJo. He glanced up and saw the six people crowded around him, trying to see what was happening. “Back up, give him space! He’s having a panic attack!” He snapped.

 

The crowd quickly dispersed, backing up, slightly afraid of Specs. He started to get really scary when he was doing medical stuff. Specs turned his attention back to JoJo, who was wheezing, and clutching at his chest, trying to breathe.

 

Jack looked at Crutchie in concern. He knew that JoJo had panic attacks sometimes, and he had witnessed a few, but this was the worst one he had seen.

 

Specs tried to help JoJo sit up, but before he could, JoJo scrambled away from him until his back was against the wall, and he had pulled his knees to his chest.

 

The rest of the room was silent as Specs raised his hands, and slowly scooted towards JoJo, trying to seem as unthreatening as possible.

 

When he made it to JoJo, Specs didn’t touch him, instead he whispered calming things to they hyperventilating boy.

 

“Hey, JoJo, it's me, Specs… can you look at me please?” He asked quietly.

 

There was a loud cough from behind the two that made JoJo flinch, and Specs whirled around and gave everyone a look that said,  _ if you do not shut up, I will personally strangle you and rip out your vocal cords,  _ then he turned back to JoJo.

 

“JoJo?”

 

JoJo slowly looked up from having his head buried in his knees, and looked at Specs, who nodded. JoJo’s breath started to slow down, but was still faster than it should have been.

 

“Good, now can I put my hand on your shoulder?” Specs asked.

 

JoJo shook his head, and Specs nodded again.

 

“Ok, do you wanna come sit on the couch?” 

 

JoJo slowly nodded, and Specs got up and lead him to the couch, shooing Spot and Race off.

 

Spot got up quickly, then picked Race up off the couch before Race could get up himself, against the taller boys protests.

 

“Hey I can walk! Put me down.”

 

Spot set him down on the floor on the other side of the room.

 

“No. You really can’t, and even if you can, I don’t want you to. Now shut it.”

 

Specs gave Race and Spot a look, as if to silently say,  _ we’re talking about this in a minute. _

 

Specs sat down on the couch, and patted the space next to him. JoJo shuffled over and sat down, his breathing still faster and shallower then Specs would have liked, but JoJo didn’t seem to be having trouble breathing anymore, so he decided to let it go.

 

“JoJo, do you wanna talk?” Specs asked him quietly.

 

JoJo shook his head, and Specs nodded.

 

“Do you want me to leave you alone for a while, let you calm down a bit?”

 

JoJo nodded, pulling his knees up to his chest.

 

Specs nodded again, “Ok, but can you do those breathing exercises that I showed you a while ago?”

 

JoJo nodded, and Specs got up and walked over to Spot and Race on the floor. He knelt down next to Race, took a look at the gash on his leg, then looked back up at Race.

 

“What happened?” Specs asked.

 

“He got himself stabbed, the poisoned, then he had a seizure, then we got him the antidote, and now you’re here.” Spot answered before Race could, and Race shrugged.

 

“Yeah… That's basically it.” Then Race perked up, “Oh, I’m engaged now!” he said excitedly, holding up his left hand and wiggling his fingers.

 

Specs gaped, “Holy shit… I know it's been three months, but honestly… how much did I miss.”

 

Race shrugged as Specs pulled out a bandage that he had in his jacket pocket and started wrapping Races leg. “It only happened like ten minutes ago…”

 

Specs looked up, opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, then seemed to decide against it, shook his head, then looked back down to finish wrapping Races leg. Then he stood up and looked around.

 

“Where's Romeo?” He asked Spot.

 

Spot shrugged, but he looked around for a second, then pointed to a spot across the room next to the couch, “He’s over there, but I’m pretty sure he’s sleeping.”

 

Specs looked over to where Spot was pointing and, sure enough, Romeo was sitting on the ground and leaning against the couch with his eyes closed.

 

Specs walked over, but instead of waking Romeo up, he just sat down next to him.

 

“Hey, Specs!” Jack whisper shouted from the couch.

 

Specs groaned, “What?”

 

“My ankle is broken… so can you do anything about that?” Henry asked, interrupting Jack, who apparently been trying to ask the same thing.

 

“Well do you have anything straight that I can splint it with?” Specs replied.

 

“We have Jack.” Smalls commented.

 

“Fuck you.” Jack said.

 

Smalls flipped him off again.

 

“Race, you don’t happen to have a ruler or something in your pocket do you?” Albert asked sarcastically.

 

Race smirked, “Actually I-” 

 

Albert cut him off, “Please. Do not tell me that you have a ruler in your pocket.”

 

Race pulled a ruler out of his pocket.

 

Albert smacked his head with his palm, “Jesus Christ Race, what the fuck?”

 

Race shrugged, “I honestly don’t remember why I brought this.”

 

Specs walked over and grabbed the ruler out of Races hand while shaking his head in confusion, “I’m not even gonna ask.”

 

Race nodded, “That's probably best.”

 

Specs walked back over toward Henry with the ruler as he pulled more bandages out of his pocket.

 

“Ok… so your ankle doesn’t look like its too bad, but I still have to set it, so thats gonna hurt a little-lot.” Specs told Henry as he kneeled down in front of him. 

“Little-lot?” Henry questioned.   
  


“Yeah… the way you define it kinda depends on your pain tolerance.” Specs answered, shrugging. “On three?”

 

“Sure…?”

 

“Cool, you count whenever you’re ready.” Specs said, positioning his hands.

 

“Three...tw- HOLY SHIT THAT HURT LIKE A BUTTCHEEK ON A STICK!” 

 

Specs started to somewhat splint Henry’s ankle.

 

“What… happened… to whenever I’m… ready?” Henry asked, panting.

 

“Well, I’ve been told that the element of surprise makes it hurt less…” Specs said.

 

“Bullshit.” Henry said.

 

“Well sorry, it's not really my fault that you broke your ankle.” Specs muttered sarcastically, sitting back and looking at the makeshift splint. “I wouldn’t put any weight on that…”

 

Henry rolled his eyes, “Wasn’t planning on it.”

 

Specs sighed.

 

There was a groan from next to the couch where Romeo had been sleeping. Apparently Henry’s vine reference had been loud enough to wake him up.

 

Specs quickly crawled up onto the couch and situated himself in between JoJo and Jack. He had apparently decided not to announce his presence and see how long it took Romeo to notice him.

 

“Why. Must you make these trash references? Why?” Romeo muttered as he crawled out from next to the couch.

 

“Stop attacking me and my vine references.” Henry said sarcastically.

 

“Are Elmer and Buttons back yet?” Romeo asked.

 

“Yeah,” Jack responded, “They just got back a few minutes ago.”

 

Romeo yawned, “Who’d they bring back?” he asked, scanning the room, his eyes passing right over JoJo and Specs on the couch.

 

Suddenly he froze, and his eyes shot back over to Specs and JoJo.

 

Romeo’s mouth fell open, “Oh…”

 

Specs waved awkwardly, “Hey.”

 

Romeo got up and walked over to Specs, then essentially fell on top of him, throwing his arms around Specs neck and burying his face into Specs shoulder.

 

Specs was frozen for a second, but then he put his arms around Romeo, rubbing small circles into his back and setting his chin on top of the smaller boys head.

 

Romeo sighed happily, “I’m glad you’re not dead.”

 

“Me too.” Specs whispered.

 

“I don’t mean to interrupt this reunion, but I was wondering, and I’m sure other people are too, why you were running?” Crutchie asked, not really directing the question at anyone in particular.

 

“Well, we were being chased by a person, with a knife…” Elmer answered.

 

“Is that all you’re gonna tell us?” Jack asked.

 

Buttons shrugged, “There's really not that much to tell… we were walking back and then this guy with a knife started chasing us…” 

 

“The person got really close to JoJo with the knife… that's why he was panicking.” Specs commented. JoJo nodded from behind him.

 

Henry leaned forward, “You didn’t happen to see this person's face, did you?”

 

Elmer shook his head, “No, he had his face covered with a scarf or something. Why?”

 

“Well, when we got attacked by the shovel guy, I saw his eyes and I’m pretty sure I recognised them from somewhere.” Henry responded, sinking back into the couch.

 

“Recognised from where?” Jack interjected.

 

“I don’t know, I’ve been thinking about it since I got back and I swear, it's on the tip of my brain, but I can’t remember it right now.”

 

Race snorted, “Tip of your brain?”

 

“Stop judging me and my old person phrases Racetrack.” Henry said sarcastically.

 

Race fake gasped, “Oh we’re using full names now, are we… Henrietta.”

 

The room went silent, and everyone turned to look at Race.

 

“oKAYY I’m going to blame that on him having a concussion and hope that never happens again.” Albert said quietly.

 

“I’m also going to blame that on me having a concussion, because I have no idea where that came from.” Race said.

 

Henry facepalmed, “Honestly Race, sometimes I wonder if you have any brain cells left.”

 

“He doesn’t.” Albert said, completely serious, then his face broke into a grin as the room exploded into laughter.

 

“RUDE.” Race yelled at nobody in particular.

 

Eventually the laughter died down and the room was quiet again.

 

Jack cleared his throat and everyone turned to look at him. “Before people go out again, can we make a list or something of everyone we still need to find?” He asked, standing up.

 

“Davey.”

 

“Finch.”

 

“Mike.”

 

“Sniper.”

 

Jack looked around to see if there was anyone else still missing. “Ok, thats it right?”

 

Everyone nodded.

 

“So… who’s gonna go out?” Elmer asked.

 

“Well I would say that me and Race could go but Race can’t walk… and even if he could I don’t think Spot would let him go.” Albert said.

 

“I’ll go with you.” Spot said, trying to stand up. 

 

“No, Spotty you just got back… you can’t go…” Race whined, clinging onto Spots arm.

 

Spot had somehow managed to pull himself into a standing position, but he crouched back down and gently put his hands oh either side of Races face.

 

“Race, listen to me, ok? We are gonna get out of this house together, and we’re gonna get married on the beach, just like you always wanted, and we’re gonna have our happily ever after, just like we planned. Ok? I promise.” Spot told him quietly.

 

Race sniffed, and now he had tears running down his cheeks, but he nodded and let go of Spots arm. “You better come back…”

 

Spot leaned in and softly kissed Race on the forehead, “I will, don’t worry.” He whispered.

 

Albert had been standing there awkwardly this whole time, turned around and walked over to collect the twine from Elmer.

 

Spot stood up and turned to walk over to the door, but was stopped by Race grabbing his hand. He looked down at Race who was looking down, and clearly fighting back more tears.

 

Race looked up at him, “I can’t lose you again…” he mumbled.

 

“You won’t, ok? I promise.” Spot said, reaching down and ruffling Races hair.

 

“We should probably go…” Albert said awkwardly, standing near the door.

 

Spot reluctantly turned around and made his way over to the door.

 

The room was silent as Albert and Spot walked out of the room, Spot stealing one last look at Race before he and Albert turned out of sight into the dark hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me- Gives sprace a rly cute reunion and proposal and the promise of a 'happily ever after'.  
> Also me- SENDS SPOT OUT INTO THE FRIKIN DEATH HOUSE.
> 
> sorry


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo whats up bitches I’m back  
> ~  
> ~  
> So, I wrote the second half of this in about an hour(can ya tell?) so there’s that, and I’ll edit it later, but here ya go.  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> Sorry *shrugs in angsty teen.

Spot and Albert turned into the dark hallway, and Spot shuttered, wanting to run back into the room, pull Race into his lap, and stay that way forever. But he couldn’t, he had to keep his promise to Race.

 

“So… that proposal was… unexpected… to say the least.” Albert said, breaking the silence as they turned into another hallway.

 

Spot snorted, “You think I expected it either? I didn’t even know that Race knew about the ring.”

 

Albert nodded, “Fair enough.”

 

The hallway went silent again as they continued walking, turning left, then left again, then right.

 

Albert inhaled loudly, then spoke, “So Race wants to get married on a beach?”

 

Spot nodded, “Yeah, there’s this beach on the coast of Lake Superior in Minnesota that he thinks is really pretty, and he’s mentioned wanting to have the ceremony there a few times.”

 

“He always has liked beaches and sunsets and aesthetic stuff like that…” Albert said, “Did he actually say ‘fairy tale ending?” He asked, smirking.

 

“Yeah… a while ago I found out that he was a complete sucker for Disney princess movies.” Spot smiled fondly, thinking of the first time they had watched a movie together, it had been about a year ago, maybe?

 

They had been at Spots apartment, and Spot had asked what Race wanted to watch, expecting him to say something like IT or The Conjuring, but Race had requested Cinderella, claiming that he loved the fairytale endings, and later saying that he hoped that he would get one someday.

 

Spot had gone out to buy a ring the next day.

 

“So listen,” Albert started, “Race is my best friend, and I love ‘im, no homo tho, so I know it’s unlikely and shit, but if you hurt him, I’ll murder you.”

 

Spot nodded slowly, “Gotcha…”

 

“Not that I want to or anything…” Albert clarified.

 

Spot continued nodding, “Mmhmmmm…”

 

Albert opened his mouth to say more, but he was cut off by a loud banging on the wall next to them along with a loud, deep, muffled voice.

 

“You’re all gonna die! Every single one of you!” The voice yelled.

 

Spot and Albert backed up against the opposite wall, completely focused on the banging coming from the other wall. Albert half expected the wall to break down, but instead, two knives, if they could even be considered knives, came ramming through the wall right where Albert and Spot had been standing.

 

They were two feet long, and upon further reflection, would be considered swords.

 

“Jesus fucking Christ, I hate this house.” Spot breathed.

 

“Join the club.” Albert muttered between gasps.

 

“Soooooo…” Spot said after a pause, “let's move and get out of this house soon?”

 

“Yup…” Albert said, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, then turning and started walking down the hallway Spot following close behind.

 

They turned left at the end of the hallway, then left again, then right… Albert lost track of how many lefts and rights they took and would have continued daydreaming if not for Spot grabbing his arm and pulling him back.

 

When Albert snapped back to reality, he whirled around to face Spot. “What?” He whispered, annoyed.

 

Spot said nothing. Instead, he pointed to something behind Albert, shaking his head quickly as if to tell Albert to be quiet.

 

Albert sighed, but turned around. When he saw what Spot was pointing to, he inhaled sharply, his eyes widening in surprise.

 

There was a single door at the end of the hallway. You couldn’t turn left or right, it was a dead end.

 

The fact that there was a door there wasn’t even the thing that surprised Albert. It was the fact that the door was slightly open that scared him. None of the other doors had been open… not according to anyone else who had gone out at least.

 

Spot backed up, pulling Albert back with him by his shoulder.

 

When they had reached the end of the hallway, which was apparently a safe distance in Spots opinion.

 

“No one else said anything about the doors being open, right?” Spot whispered.

 

Albert nodded, leaning back against the wall.

 

“So should we open the door?” Spot asked quietly.

 

“If we don’t, I’ll probably regret it, so… yeah?” Albert responded, also whispering.

 

Albert took a hesitant step forward, then continued making his way down the hallway towards the door, Spot following a few feet behind him.

 

Albert reached the door, and hesitated before pushing the door open. He looked back at Spot who nodded.

 

Not even two seconds after Albert had gently pushed the door open, an unseen force pulled the door open, and a body slammed into Albert, knocking him to the ground.

 

Albert lost the ability to breathe for a few seconds, and in those few seconds, Spot had somehow been knocked to the ground as well. 

 

Not two seconds later, there was someone standing over Albert, holding something over their head, getting ready to bring it down on Alberts head, but before they could, their attacker froze.

 

“Holy shit…” The person breathed, slowly bringing the wood plank that they held in their hands down. “Albert?”

 

Alberts vision finally cleared up, and there, standing above him, was Mike.

 

Spot groaned, and Mike backed up into the wall.

 

“Oh god, I’m so sorry....” He said, then stepped forward again and held out his hand to help Albert up.

 

Albert reached up and took his hand, still wheezing.

 

As Mike pulled him up, Albert coughed, and he heard Spot groan from the floor.  _ So he’s fine.  _ Albert thought.

 

Mike sighed, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was you… I mean, there were some other people here earlier…”

 

Albert coughed again, and he noticed that his breathing was almost back to normal. “Dude, honestly, it’s fine. We’re in a death house. But I have to ask, do you know who it was? That was here earlier I mean?”

 

Mike shook his head, “No, sorry… oh, and when I said here, I mean they were walking around outside of here, they didn’t come in.”

 

Spot groaned from the floor, where he had sat up, and was now leaning against the wall and listening to their conversation. “Darn.”

 

Mike looked down at him and grimaced, “sorry… about both things..”

 

Spot sighed, and slowly stood up. “It’s fine… there’s really no reason for you to be sorry about it, I mean… it’s kinda out of your control.”

 

Mike looked at Albert, “Why is Spot being so nice?” He whispered.

 

Albert shrugged, “Well, it’s possible that he has a concussion, or it’s because he just got engaged like twenty minutes ago.”

 

Mike nodded, then Albert’s words seemed to actually hit him, “Wait seriously dude?” Spot nodded grinning, “That’s awesome! Congrats!”

 

Spot stood up and nodded, “Thanks!”

 

Mike seemed like he was about to say something, but before he could, they heard loud footsteps coming from the hallway.

 

Alberts eyes widened, “shit shit shit shit shit.” He muttered as he frantically looked around for a place to hide. Coincidentally, the only possible hiding place was the room Mike had been hiding in. 

 

Albert grabbed Mike’s and Spots arms and tried to tow them into the room with him, but Spot pulled his arm out of Alberts grasp. 

 

“We have to hide!” Albert hissed, pulling Mike into the room. Spot followed, but he stopped at the door.

 

“Whoever this is already knows we’re here, and if we hide in there, they’re gonna find us pretty quickly unless someone actually fights them, and god knows neither of you can fight worth a damn, but I can, so I’m gonna fight whoever it is.” Spot whispered, then turned and stepped away from the door, not giving Albert or Mike any time to argue.

 

Albert leaned back against the wall, “If he dies, Race is gonna murder me.” He muttered, exasperated.

 

It went silent for a few seconds, then there was some yelling, and what Albert assumed was punching, then nothing.

 

Mike carefully looked out into the hallway, and gasped, “Is that Oscar?”

 

Alberts head snapped forward, and the rest of his body followed a second later. He took two quick steps toward the door, then stopped when he saw the scene out in the hallway.

Spot was standing over a body on the floor, panting. As Albert neared the body, he could clearly see that it was in fact, Oscar Delancey. He was still breathing, unfortunately, but his nose was clearly broken.

 

“Does this mean that the Delanceys have been behind all of this? Like the legitimately murdering people?” Spot asked.

 

“Technicly, they didn’t actually murder anyone but it just seems like they did…” Albert muttered.

 

Spot sighed, “Whatever, same thing.”

 

“Uhm… what?” Mike asked from behind the two.

 

“We’ll explain later.” Spot and Albert said in unison, still distracted by Oscar.

 

“Yeah… ok…” Mike muttered to himself, still very confused.

 

“What should we do? With Oscar I mean?” Albert asked after a few seconds.

 

Spot shook his head, “I don’t know… I mean, maybe we could use him as leverage and get Morris to let us out of here, if he’s actually part of this…”

 

They stood in silence for a minute, trying to decide what to do, Mike still standing behind them in confusion.

 

Albert gasped, “Wait a minute, Isn’t it weird that they always seem to know what we’re doing, even when we’re not in the main room?”

 

Spot nodded, “Almost like they have cameras… everywhere…”

 

“So Morris probably knows what happened already and knows what we’re planning… and that we want to use Oscar as leverage…” Albert continued, eyes widening.

 

“Which means he’s probably already in the room and is gonna use someone in there as leverage…” Spot said, getting more and more frantic.

 

“And the most likely choice would be-”

 

“Race!” Spot shouted, taking off at a sprint in the direction they had come.

 

Albert looked down at Oscar who was starting to wake up, “Get up or I’ll break your jaw.” An empty threat, but Oscar didn’t need to know that.

 

Mike started to walk after Spot, and Oscar, who was clearly disoriented walked between them. Albert bringing up the rear, and getting them to walk faster when they could hear Spot yelling from the main room.

 

“LET HIM GO MORRIS!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was pretty short, and I’m aBsOLutElY pOsItiVe that you can’t tell what’s about to happen.
> 
> I honestly don’t know what’s happening at this point.


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I feel like the quality of this has gone way down, and idk what happened, and the end of this chapter is really weird and I might edit this later but idk.  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> Started writing it  
> Had a breakdown   
> bon appitit

Albert stopped Mike and Oscar just outside the door and peeked in, barely holding back a gasp when he saw what was happening.

Morris had Race in a chokehold with a knife against his neck. Race was standing awkwardly, with his injured leg held above the ground. Everyone else was backed up into a corner. Smalls was crying, Romeo was hyperventilating and Specs was holding him, whispering something in his ear.

Everyone was pretty much in a different stage of panic.

Spot was standing about five feet away from Morris and Race, looking from Race to Morris to the group of people huddled in the corner.

Albert stepped into the room, and Morris’s gaze snapped up to him and he pushed the knife closer to Races throat. Race whimpered, and Spot spun around to face him.

“Where’s Oscar?” Spot hissed.

Albert gestured to the door, and Spot relaxed slightly. They hadn’t lost their only leverage.

Albert stepped back out into the hall and grabbed Oscar, pulling him into the room, but stopping him before he could get too close to Morris. Mike stepped into the room behind them, and Ike audibly gasped.

“Mike?”

Mike’s head quickly turned in the direction of where Ikes voice had come from. His eyes widened and he started to walk over to them, but he was stopped by Morris.

“Take another step, and he dies.” He said menacingly, then Gestured to Oscar. “Is he ok?”

Spot nodded, “Mostly. What do you want?”

Morris shrugged. “All of you dead.”

Oscar snorted, “Ok take it down a notch Mr. EdgeLord.”

Morris groaned. “Does he have a concussion.”

“Probably” Spot responded. “But can we make a deal with you? One that ends with you letting us all go preferably?”

“Possibly… It all depends on what I get out of it.” Morris answered.

“Ok… so, what do you want?” Albert asked from behind Spot.

“Oh I don’t know, just ten thousand dollars, my brother back, and for you to not call the cops on us.” Morris answered thoughtfully.

“Ok… and in exchange you let us all go, and never mess with us again?” Spot asked.

Morris was about to respond, but he was interupted by Ike from the corner. “Spot… I’m pretty sure we don’t have ten thousand dollars…” 

Morris’s open mouth turned into a grin. “Well then, I guess we don’t have a deal. But I’m not a complete bitch so I’-”

“No you are a complete bitch.” Race mumbled.

Morris kicked the leg Race was standing on, and Race collapsed. Spot took a step forward, but stopped when he was given a look by Morris.

“AS I was saying, I, am not a complete bitch, so I’m willing to give you the rest of the time you have, which is about…” he checked his watch, “three hours, to find the rest of your friends. As long as I get Oscar back.”

Spot grabbed Oscar and shoved him toward Morris, then took a step toward Race. 

“Oh, I don’t think so mister. Just because I say I’ll let you go, it doesn’t mean I’m gonna let go of grudges. I don’t like him. I’m keeping him.” Morris said, then pulled Race up by his arm and shoved him towards a door in the wall that none of them had noticed earlier.

“THAT WASN’T PART OF THE DEAL!” Spot yelled, trying to keep the door open as it losed behind them.

“I LOVE YOU SEAN!” Race yelled just before it closed.  
Spot sank down against the wall, his head in his hands, silently sobbing.

It was quiet for a minute, then Albert sat down next to Spot and put his hand on Spot’s shoulder. 

“We can get him back Spot. I’m going to kill those bastards, and you can join me, but we need to find everyone else and get out of here ok?” Albert whispered.

“We were gonna get married Al.” Spot whispered, his voice broken. 

“You still will, ok? We’re gonna get him back. But we need to go, now.” Albert said, starting to stand up.

Spot slowly followed, his face red, tearstained, and full of pain.

Mike and Ike had been hugging the whole time, and Smalls was still crying, but everyone stood up and listened to Jack give instructions.

“Ok, so we need to find everyone else, so Davey, Finch, and Sniper, and so we need to go out there again, but I’m wondering if it would be more efficient to just go as one big group because then we’re all together and its harder to kill people in groups?” Jack said, clearly distraught.

There were various nods and ‘sure’s from the group. 

“Ok… so should we lay down some ground rules? Like try to be quiet, or as quiet as possible.” 

“Stick with at least one person while we’re walking?” Specs commented, grabbing Romeo’s hand.

“If someone says to duck or something, just do it?” Henry added.

The rest of the group nodded in agreement.

“Ok then… should we go?” Jack asked, turning towards the door.

Everyone followed, most of them just sticking close to a person that happened to be near them.

A few seconds after the group walked out into the hallway, the lights flickered, then went out. Romeo and Smalls shrieked.

A few seconds later, the lights came back on.

“Everybody ok?” Jack asked. “Everyone here?”  
Multiple “Yeah”’s rang out throughout the hallway and Jack let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding.

“Ok, lets go.” Jack said, continuing on his way down the hallway, everyone else following.

Eventually, after walking for about twenty minutes in complete silence, they came to a door that wasn’t open, and after confirming that no one else had come to this area, Jack knocked on the door, quietly calling through the door. “Um.. Hello? Is anyone in here?”

“Yeah?” A vaguely familiar voice called back.

“That's Finch.” Albert stated from the back of the group.

Crutchie turned around, surprised. “You sure?”

Albert nodded, “Yeah.”

“Finch is that you?” Jack called.

“Yup.” The voice said, coming from closer to the door inside the room.

“Ok, I’m gonna open the door.” Jack said, more to himself than anyone else as he twisted the doorknob.

He slowly pushed the door open, revealing a confused Finch, which quickly turned into a happy Finch when he realized who it was. 

“Oh my god… you guys…. I didn’t think it was actually you.” He said, grinning and hugging the people nearest him, and waving at the ones towards the back of the group that he couldn’t reach. Then he suddenly stopped, “What happened?”

Jack opened his mouth to answer but Crutchie beat him to it, “Well, ya see, thats actually a really long story that we don’t have time to tell at the moment, and we’ll answer all your questions later but we have three hours to get out of here before we die. So just follow us and don’t ask questions.”

Finch opened his mouth, then closed it, and just nodded and followed Jack as he started down the hall again.

“Do you find it weird that we’re in such a big group and that’d be really easy to target but the Delanceys aren’t trying to kill us at the moment?” Albert whispered to Spot, who slowly nodded.

Spot started to respond, but he was cut off.

At first Albert didn’t know what the sound was, but all too soon, he realized what it was, and so did everyone else based off of their wide eyes and open mouths.

A loud, high pitched scream, was ripping through the house

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry   
> I’ll edit this later I swear


	11. Hiatus Announcement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so so so sorry about this

****

Hi guys, I’m so so so sorry about this, but I have an announcement to make.

I’m afraid that this fanfiction, ‘Mortem Domus (Cont.)’ is now on indefinite hiatus. I just can’t seem to get into writing this story anymore, and I don’t know where to go with this. If I suddenly get inspiration for this, I will continue writing it, but for now, I don’t need the stress.

I’m sorry again, and thank you for understanding.

 

On the other hand, the original author of this fic, KayWritesFanfic, is trying to self publish the original version of Mortem Domus, and that costs money. They sent me a link to their GoFundMe, and I will put the link below. I encourage you to donate if you can, and help them with the cost.

 

[ https://www.gofundme.com/f/bx6nf-self-publishing-my-book ](https://www.gofundme.com/f/bx6nf-self-publishing-my-book)

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Race is a child and Jack is obsessed with stranger things and nachos.
> 
> Fight me.


End file.
